


Dying To Try

by thebitterbeast



Category: Primeval
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Prompt Fic, spoilers for at least series three and four, surprisingly no angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-22
Updated: 2014-04-22
Packaged: 2018-01-20 09:35:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1505573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thebitterbeast/pseuds/thebitterbeast
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Becker’s really bad with feelings. Really, really bad.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dying To Try

**Author's Note:**

> The prompt was this: Jess/Becker - call me; a drabble about one character asking for another be it at the brink of death/in a battlefield/knocking on the front door wounded

Becker’s only been relocated to Iraq for a month before distraction _(he’s sure he sees an anomaly in the distance)_ and the stupid bravery he chides _(chided; they’re not at the ARC anymore; there **is** no ARC anymore)_ Connor for has him pushing one of the men under his command _(they’re not his men, they’re not the men of the ARC)_ away from a convoy that explodes not seconds later. Becker is flung onto the hot sand.  
  
The last thing he thinks about before everything goes black is that he never got to kiss Jessica Parker.  
  
He wakes up to white walls and the beeping of the heart monitor by his bedside. He tries to move almost immediately, but before he can do more than twitch, a doctor is by his side and a needle is inserted into the IV and he slips back under.  
  
The second time he wakes, he’s still drowsy and he knows better than to make any movement. The nurse by his side smiles down at him _(pretty, he muses, but her hair’s too light and her smile not bright enough)_ and helps him sit up slowly.   
  
His first question after a few sips of water is for his men. He is assured that most _(not all, never all; Becker knows better)_ are healing fine. He stifles his second. _(‘Can I see Jess?’)_  
  
He slips back into sleep barely an hour later. He wakes a few more times over the next few days, but he sees it in his doctor’s face - he is not healing as fast as he should be. Becker wonders what that means for his military career. _(Becker wonders if this means he will be sent back to London; back to **Jess**.)_  
  
His superiors decide to send him back as soon as he’s fit enough. The doctor cautions that he is to be admitted to a hospital immediately upon arrival, and Becker agrees readily. He may hate hospitals but he is not stupid - he knows he’s not healing properly, he knows things are worse than he’s being told.  
  
It is three days after he is settled into his new hospital that he gives in. He has been dialing a familiar number over and over again but hanging up before calling because he’s _Becker_ , and Danny was right, he is sort of emotionally constipated. _(He’s a little medicated, it’s the extra push he needs.)_   
  
He dials Jess’ number and opens his mouth to say something when he hears it picked up. His words dry up in his throat when he hears her _(warm, lovely, musical)_ voice, “Hello?”  
  
His voice comes out a little strangled. _(He must be forgiven for that; he’s injured after all.)_ “Jessica.”  
  
Her _"Becker?"_ is a little breathless and incredulous and Becker sags back into the pillows behind him because he’s got Jess on the phone and nothing else matters, not even how slow his back is healing.  
  
She turns up in the hospital at the start of visiting hours the following day, a whirlwind of colour and honeysuckle and spirits. He wants nothing more than to pull her into his arms and hold her there forever. _(He doesn’t, because Hilary Becker can be a bit of a coward sometimes. Shut up, Connor.)_  
  
He’s grateful for the friendly face _(he’s grateful for **Jess** )_ and the news she brings of everyone who has ever worked with them at the ARC. Lester’s trying to wrestle control back and reinstate everyone, he learns, because the new recruits are _"absolute morons, more so than the old team" (Lester’s words, not Jess’, she assures him as he struggles for breath through his chuckles)._  
  
Her visits are quickly the most anticipated thing about his day. He ignores the nurse’s knowing looks and smirks, and the light teasing he gets about his _"pretty, young girlfriend"_ with a practiced ease, but it is getting harder to ignore the fact that it was Jess he saw in his mind when he thought he was going to die. It gets harder to ignore the fact that he feels lighter about her, and he has to restrain himself on more than one occasion from reaching out for her hand and tugging her down into the kiss he’s been denying himself for ages.  
  
She’s probably over him, he reasons, and there’s no need for him to ruin a perfectly good friendship over feelings she no longer has. _(He lies to himself, because when it comes to the heart, he’s a tosser. Somewhere, Connor and Danny are laughing their arses off at him.)_  
  
It’s Jess who takes things into her own hands when she barrels into his room on her birthday, hands on her hips. She berates him, going off on a rant about “I was waiting, but I’ll be waiting forever because you’re never going to make a move, are you? I keep thinking we’re going somewhere but then you close up again and god, Becker, if you’re not interested, put a girl out of her misery, would you? I’m gifting myself a birthday present and then you can pretend it never happened,” and the next thing he knows, Becker’s got an armful of Jess and her mouth slanted over his.   
  
She pulls away in seconds, but Becker tugs at her wrist and captures her mouth again because now that he’s had her, he decides, he’s not letting her go.  
  
 _(He can almost hear the “About time, action man” and “Seriously? It takes you almost dying to make a move, soldier boy?”, and the laughter that is sure to follow._  
  
 _Becker doesn’t care. He’s got a girlfriend to kiss, after all.)_

**Author's Note:**

> Psht, no, I didn't resort to Kiss The Girl lyrics for the title. Nope, not at all.


End file.
